UCLan Graduate named Young Journalist of the Year

University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) graduate and ITV Granada journalist Adam McClean is celebrating after scooping the O2 Media Award for Young Journalist of the Year.

BA (Hons) Journalism graduate Adam, was awarded the prize at a special awards ceremony held at the Imperial War Museum in Salford Quays by a consultant who worked on a woman Adam featured in a report. Her face had been completely destroyed in a dog attack.

Judges commended Adam’s work in using a remotely piloted drone to gather footage for his reports. His portfolio included a special report with Bryn Hughes, the father of PC Nicola Hughes, as he ran a marathon at the North Pole.

Adam, a reporter at Granada Reports, said: "The time I spent at UCLan prepared me incredibly well for an industry that has changed so rapidly since my graduation.

"When I left in 2010 there's no way I would have imagined winning an award for piloting a flying camera as part of the newsgathering process.

"I was taught to think several steps ahead during my time at the School of Journalism and Media. Whenever exciting new opportunities present themselves I always seize them with the eagerness instilled in me at UCLan.

"Each day I turn up to work I'm greeted by colleagues who I grew up watching on Granada Reports. It is such an honour to be part of the finest regional news team in the country."

Deborah Robinson, course leader for BA (Hons) Journalism at UCLan said: “I am thrilled that Adam has won yet another award, to add to an already impressive list. Adam was an outstanding student and secured a job with Granada Reports immediately on graduation.

“Adam combines the traditional skills of the journalist, finding great stories and crafting wonderful scripts to complement the pictures he self-shoots, with a real understanding of new technology, which is transforming the way we gather news.

“His use of drones as a device for gathering compelling pictures is typical of his embrace of new technology. At UCLan, we have pioneered the use of drones for newsgathering and for civic empowerment. Professor Paul Egglestone has established a centre for civic drone journalism and the pioneering research Paul and his team are doing will feed into our teaching to produce a new generation of journalists equipped to use all the technology at their disposal to break news stories that matter.”

Nicola Green, director of communications and reputation at O2 UK, said the judging panel were hugely impressed by the tremendous examples of community journalism across the North West.